A Member (“the Member”) of Saltney Town Council (“the Council”) self-referred to the Ombudsman as the Solicitors Regulation Authority (“the SRA”) had publicly issued a disqualification order related to their former employment as a paralegal.
The Ombudsman investigated whether the Member’s conduct may amount to a breach of paragraph 6(1)(a) of the Code of Conduct (“the Code”).
The Ombudsman obtained copies of the SRA’s decision documents and found that it had reached a finding of dishonesty against the Member on the basis that the Member had provided false information to clients on the progress of their cases. There was no suggestion of any financial impropriety or criminal conduct on the Member’s part.
The Ombudsman found that, whilst the Member may have brought themselves personally into disrepute as a result of the SRA’s public decision notice, the Member’s role as a paralegal was entirely related to their private life and had no connection to the Council or their role as a Councillor. Furthermore, the SRA’s dishonesty finding related to the Member’s inability to progress work. This being the case, the Ombudsman did not consider that the Member’s actions amounted to a breach of paragraph 6(1)(a) of the Code.